Trench Bolts and Magic

Chapter 199 New Nickname
From August 12 to August 14, the entire operational area under the responsibility of the Second Army Group underwent tremendous changes.

With the complete fall of the Namur fortress complex and the complete control of Charleroi, the main forces of the Saxon Second Army and the Ludendorff Combat Group rapidly deployed along both banks of the Sambre River like a floodgate being opened.

The advance of 260,000 troops was aimed directly at the heart of the Gallo-Baltistan Republic.

On the plains south of Charleroi, that thrilling cavalry duel had long since come to an end.

The 1st Imperial Guard Cavalry Division utterly crippled the 3rd Gallic Cavalry Division with a textbook ambush.

After the Gallic 9th Infantry Division was forced to retreat hastily under the attack of armored airships on ground.

General Hopner then led his troops, along with a large number of captured fine warhorses and the twelve almost intact 75mm magic cannons, through the city of Charleroi and back to the north bank of the Sambre River.

As the victorious army marched through the ravaged city, every cavalryman fell silent.

Captain Mavits, who had been sent to make contact earlier, was now acting like an experienced tour guide.

Pointing to the mountains of corpses piled up on both sides of the street, he recounted to his colleagues the bloody battles the training assault battalion had experienced there.

Meanwhile, engineers and reserve battalions of the Second Army also entered Charleroi South and began clearing this huge 'graveyard'.

After all, the Gauls had already retreated, and they couldn't just let these thousands of corpses rot and stink here, causing a plague.

Wearing makeshift masks, the engineers used hooks and ropes to drag the deformed corpses from the barbed wire and the rubble, then transported them outside the city to be buried in pits.

The entire city was permeated with an aura of death.

On an open area on the north bank of the Sambur River, the army's supply corps quickly set up a temporary field landing site for armored airships.

Huge steel support structures were erected, and various heavy maintenance equipment was continuously delivered by trucks.

The L29 armored airship, which had been swaggering in the sky for a long time, slowly descended amidst the roar of its engines and finally landed smoothly on the special support.

This steel behemoth, which had been hanging in the sky for nearly ten days, finally got a chance to catch its breath.

Ground crew and magic technicians swarmed around it, treating it like a noble king, replenishing it with expensive brilliance fuel and large-caliber shells, and carrying out emergency checks and maintenance on its massive body.

After a brief rest, the L29 armored airship, having completed its resupply, took off again, hovering directly over the south bank of the Sambre River.

Its very existence is a powerful deterrent.

Overlooking it, the Second Army's engineering units erected several new temporary pontoon bridges on both sides of the city of Charleroi.

The more passages the army has to cross the river, the better.

At this point, the Gallic Fifth Army had completely lost the initiative.

Faced with the menacing war behemoth in the sky, they dared not make any move.

The infantry dared not advance, because if they gathered, they would be met with devastating blows from the 203mm cannons.

Even their prized 75mm magic cannons dared not fire easily.

Because the muzzle flash is as conspicuous as a firefly in the dark in the excellent field of vision of the armored airship, once it is located, what follows is a desperate counterattack.

The 75mm caliber is clearly insufficient compared to the Type 203 naval gun.

Thus, in an eerily calm atmosphere, the main force of the Second Saxon Army began to cross the Sambre River in an orderly manner, wave after wave.

By August 14, just 13 days after the start of war mobilization, the main force of the Saxon right wing had completely opened up all the major transportation routes within the United Kingdom of Flanders, and its advance reached the border of Gaul.

This speed was even nine days ahead of the time estimated in the operational plan formulated by the General Staff based on the manuscript left by the former Chief of the General Staff, Schlieffen!
This astonishing news was quickly transmitted back to the Imperial General Staff's forward command in Kolenbutz via urgently established wired telegraph and telephone lines, and soon spread among the high command of various army groups.

The entire Saxon army leadership was shaken.

In this glorious battle report, one name was repeatedly mentioned: the 'Training Assault Battalion'. This newly formed elite unit's performance in the near-legendary defensive battle of Charleroi brought it back into the spotlight of all the army group leaders.

While people marveled at its formidable combat power, they also developed a strong interest in its commander.

Soon, following "The Mage Slayer of Seville" and "The Night Ghost of Vallecas Highlands," Morin gained a new and more widely known nickname.

The butcher of Charleroi.

This bloody nickname, carrying a chilling fear, quickly spread throughout the entire Western Front.

When detailed battle reports on the Battle of Charleroi were transmitted to the Fifth Army headquarters by telegram, Crown Prince George immediately began to carefully read the battle reports issued by the General Staff.

His Highness the Crown Prince has been in a somewhat depressed mood lately.

As the commander-in-chief of the Fifth Army, his troops have been firmly stationed in the Ardennes Forest these days, tasked with tying down a portion of the main force of the Gallic Army.

While he was very pleased with the rapid advance of the Saxon army's right wing, he also felt a little regretful that he hadn't participated in it.

Everything seemed to be proceeding smoothly according to the plan laid out by Army Chief of the General Staff Moltke Jr.

He quickly skimmed through the battle reports.

"The Second Army successfully seized the flank of the 1st Guards Cavalry Division of Charleroi and decisively defeated the 3rd Gallic Cavalry Division. The L29 armored airship arrived on the battlefield and completely crushed the 9th Gallic Division. The main force of the Second Army had crossed the Sambre River by the 14th."

Upon seeing this, Georg smiled with satisfaction.

"Well done! But where's the battle report from the training assault battalion? Oh, it's below."

When Georg's gaze continued downwards and he saw the battle report detailing the specific combat operations and casualty figures of the training assault battalion, the smile on his face instantly froze.

The battle report clearly states:
"The 1st Training Assault Battalion of the Saxon Royal Guard is ordered to advance first and hold Charleroi."

"Between August 10 and 12, supported by a 77mm field artillery battalion, the battalion independently withstood repeated attacks from the 9th Infantry Division of the Gallic Army (approximately 15,000 men) and part of the 3rd Cavalry Division, suffering 182 casualties."

Georg's breathing became rapid, and his hand gripping the telegram tightened involuntarily, crumpling the paper.

One hundred and eighty-two people!
One battalion was wiped out, nearly one-fifth of them!

This is a training assault battalion! It's his precious creation, built with his own hands, into which he poured countless efforts and hopes! It's the future hope of the entire Saxon Army!

Every soldier inside is an elite selected from the entire army!

The results of it?
As a result, those two bastards, Bülow and Ludendorff, actually used it as cannon fodder and threw it into Charleroi's meat grinder to fight the Gauls in a war of attrition.
Are their brains filled with mush?

An uncontrollable rage surged up from the depths of Georg's heart, instantly igniting the blood in his veins.

"asshole!"

He slammed his hand on the table, stood up abruptly, and threw the telegram in his hand to the ground.

The loud noise startled the guards and staff outside the office.

Georg paced back and forth in his office, cursing under his breath, his handsome face contorted with rage, like an enraged lion.

"I'm handing over the training assault battalion to you so you can be the spearhead, to create miracles! Not to be used as sandbags to fill the gaps on the front lines!"

"This is such a valuable unit, I myself am reluctant to use it lightly, for fear of damaging it! And you, you just throw it into the fire?"

"One battalion to take on an entire division? How could you even think of that! Why don't you just send them to take on an entire army group?"

(End of this chapter)